A filling station with beer lovers in mind

There is no shortage of places to buy gas on Capital Circle Northeast, but soon there will be one filling station that's not like the others. How so, you ask. Because it will specialize in beer, that's why. Craft ales, to be precise.

Called Growler Country, it is scheduled to open later this month or in the first week of October.

The owners are brothers Bobby and Michael Carbonell. They believe their shop, located at 3305 Capital Circle NE – in the modest, east-side plaza that is home to Riccardo's and, yes, a filling station and a gun store – will be the first growler filling operation in Florida. It's certainly the first that I know of.

Bobby Carbonell, a longtime home brewer who also works for the state Department of Veteran Affairs, said they've seen growler stations in the Atlanta area and said to themselves, Why not Tallahassee?

Indeed, why not? The local craft beer landscape is unrecognizable compared to just a few years ago. There appears to be, dare I say, an unquenchable thirst for ales and porters and stouts teeming with flavor.

Carbonell tells me Growler Country will have a constantly rotating 24 tap handles, focused on Florida craft breweries and national favorites such as Dogfish Head and Stone. Their shop will have basic quart growlers for sale at $3, with fancier models for selling for more. They are still working out the pricing, he says, but quarts will start in the $6 range and could go as high as $15, depending on the beer.

There will be a few seats at Growler Country to allow patrons to sample ales before making a purchase, but it is not intended to be a bar.

Florida statutes do not permit the sale of the national standard 64-ounce growler – a spirited effort failed during the past session – but gallon-sized growlers are permissible. Carbonell does not expect much demand for those.

"Growler Country is mainly about getting limited release beers not available in cans and bottles into people's hands," Carbonell told me. "I think it's a new concept for Florida. We're located where we are for a reason. You can get a growler on the way home from work and refill it a couple of days later."

I'll drink to that.

You can contact me at dblackburn@tallahassee.com, and I invite you to follow me on Twitter: @dblackburn.